Middle Eastern energy expansion

GE Energy has received three contracts worth more than $1.8bn in total to supply 32 gas turbines and additional equipment for power plant projects in Kuwait and Qatar.

For the first contract, GE will supply 20 Frame 9E gas turbines, with a capacity of 2.5GW, to Kharafi National of Kuwait for the Sabiya Power Station, which will be operated by Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity & Water. The other contracts are for power plants to be built in the industrial city of Mesaieed, Qatar.

The Sabiya plant will operate in simple-cycle base load mode, initially using liquid fuel that will switch to natural gas in three years time.

GE will manufacture the gas turbines in Belfort, France, and is expected to make shipments to the project site from October 2007 through to June next year.

In the second contract, GE will supply gas and steam power plant system services for a 2GW power plant in Qatar. The plant will be built by Iberdrola Ingenieria y Construccion, Madrid, Spain, and owned by the Mesaieed Power Company.